Querrey out, Nishikori through

Written by: Staff on 11th February 2011

Querrey out, Nishikori through

Kei Nishkori (JPN) |

Sam Querrey, the highest-ranked American in the SAP Open field, had a quick ending to his week on Tuesday night, losing his first round match in straight sets to Slovakia’s Lukas Lacko.

Querrey, ranked No.17 in the world and the No.3 seed this week, had 10 aces in the first set, including four straight at one point. But the unseeded Lacko stayed with him through the tie-break, missing out on his first two set points at 6-4 and 6-5, but clinching the first set a few points later at 7-6.

Lacko broke for a 2-0 lead in the second set and let that break go, as Querrey broke back for 2-all. But Lacko broke again for 4-2 and didn’t look back this time, winning, 7-6(6), 6-3.

“I was a little bummed after I lost the first set, then my serve kind of went away,” said Querrey, who only had two aces in the second set. “I’m playing well in practice. I just have to stick with it and the results will come.”
Lacko got his first career Top-20 win. “It’s a good feeling. It proves I can beat these kinds of players,” the 23-year-old said. “I’ve had my chances before, but I never finished it. It’s very satisfying to get a win like this.”

In the second match of the night, Juan Martin del Potro served up a one-hour, 17-minute rout of Teymuraz Gabashvili, 6-3, 6-2. Del Potro won his first Grand Slam title at the 2009 US Open and made it up to No.4 in the world soon after.However, inactivity during a wrist injury-marred 2010 season has seen him fall to No.484. He proved himself a lot better than that ranking during his comprehensive win over the No.76-ranked Gabashvili, though.

Earlier in the day the other seeds had mixed results. The first two in action both lost, with No.6 seed Benjamin Becker falling to Richard Berankis, 6-3, 7-6(2) and No.4 seed Xavier Malisse following Becker to the sidelines with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Milos Raonic and 20 of the Canadian’s aces. No.8 seed Kei Nishikori salvaged the day for the seeds, beating Jan Hajek, 6-1, 7-6(6).

“I relaxed a little bit in the second set and he began playing better,” Nishikori said. “I was glad to finish it in two sets.”

Nishikori has been working with a new coach, one of the best in the business – Brad Gilbert. “It’s going well with Brad,” Nishikori said. “He has made some changes to my game. He has changed my tactics a lot.”

In the only day session match between unseeded players, Brian Dabul of Argentina won an all-South American, all-lefty battle against Alejandro Falla of Colombia, 6-4, 6-3.

Topics: Nishikori, Sam Querrey